APHOTOMARINE

An educational resource dedicated mainly to the photography
and diversity of marine life that can be found in coastal waters
and intertidal areas of Great Britain and Ireland by David Fenwick.

A-P-H-O-T-O Wildlife Stock Image Library
Pontobdella muricata (Linnaeus, 1758) - A Ray / Skate leech (Marine worm images)
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Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- live leech laying cocoons on scallop shell 1

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- live leech laying cocoons on scallop shell 2

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- live leech laying cocoons on scallop shell 3

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- live leech laying cocoons on scallop shell 4

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- live leech laying cocoons on scallop shell 5

The specimen above was found by scallop diver Merlyn Jackson who took images that were posted to the BMLSS Fackbook Group for identification. Cocoons like this had previously been found and not identified in Cornwall so the posting by Merlyn helped identify the the cocoons of this large marine leech. Images above © Merlyn Jackson.

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoon preserved in ethanol 1

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoon preserved in ethanol 2

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoon preserved in ethanol 3

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on shoe 1

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on shoe 2

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- with 1.0mm division rule 1

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on shoe 3

The specimens above were on material (training shoes) trawled from the seabed near the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall. The cocoons were photographed 18.11.21. The author here thanks Tracey Williams for her help in in allowing the samples to be photographed. Images by David Fenwick.

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoon removed from box 1

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on fish box 1

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on fish box 2

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on fish box 3

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on fish box 4

Ray or skate leech
Pontobdella muricata
- cocoons on fish box 5

The cocoons of Pontobdella muricata were found in the corner of a fish box which was found washed up at Porth Kidney Sands, near Hayle, Cornwall, 14.12.10. Images by David Fenwick.

The fish box also contained Lepas anatifera, the Common Stalked or Gooseneck Barnacle; bivalve mollusc Prickly Saddle Oyster (Heteranomia squamula); and one or two species of hydroid. The box has therefore attracted pelagic species but must have at some point been trapped on the seabed to be used by the leech.

Pontobdella muricata Ray Skate leech cocoon egg marine worm images
The main objective of this website is in furthering environmental awareness and education through the medium of photography. To increase awareness and access to the wildlife of the region and help
people find and identify it. Sometimes the difference between species is obvious but many species can only be determined by observing microscopic characteristics that are specific to any one species.